1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a non-contact information recording medium suitable for use as a tag attached to an article for the purpose of, for example, conducting a prescribed processing for the article, and particularly to a non-contact information recording medium for ink-jet recording, from and in which information can be read and written in a non-contact state without contacting it, and an image forming process.
2. Related Background Art
Attention is paid to non-contact information recording media having an information storage element such as an IC memory, and a non-contact transmitting-receiving part for controlling recording of information from the information storage element and writing of information into the information storage element which are conducted through non-contact communication with the outside, information carriers for the next generation.
Such a non-contact information recording medium is provided as an IC chip and utilized in various application fields by attaching itself as a non-contact tag to an article. For example, the following utilization fields are mentioned.
A. Field of Transportation:
    (1) Automatic fare collection: Parking tickets and electronic event tickets;    (2) Vehicle ID: Location management for industrial railroad, automobile and the like;    (3) Aircraft engine industry: Air package tags and the like.B. Field of Distribution:    (1) Publication: Book POS slips;    (2) Retail sale: Inventory management labels, delivery check plates and price tags;    (3) Brand: Brand tags equipped with a true/false judging function.C. Field of Access Control:    (1) Entering and leaving control: ID tags illustrated with a portrait and amusement tags;    (2) Ticket: Tickets for using facilities and event tickets;    (3) Library management: Labels equipped with a book card, and the like.D. Industrial Field:    (1) Production process: Part assembly, robot indication billboard, subsequent step indication and progress confirmation;    (2) Environmental countermeasure: explosion-proof labels and component indication labels for gas and ink containers;    (3) Others: Delivery parcel check, increase labels for video and CD, integration into product materials, etc.
In a system making use of such a non-contact information recording medium, the prescribed processing can be conducted in a non-contact state without putting the non-contact information recording medium (card, tag or the like) into a processing unit, so that good utility which has not been achieved by the conventional systems can be achieved. In general, a non-contact tag has no image-indicating part which can be visually observed by a person. The form of such a recording medium does not become a problem in a system in which there is no need to directly present information as to an article, to which the recording medium is attached, to a person (customer).
If the non-contact tag can be utilized as a price tag to conduct an accounting processing upon purchase by a customer by reading price information stored in each tag attached to a plurality of articles in a non-contact state, however, inventory management can be conducted more efficiently than present. In such a system, however, the price of the article must be confirmed by a purchaser oneself of the article.
In addition, when such a tag is used in the field of distribution, there is also a system in which peculiar information written in the non-contact tag according to an article is read from the non-contact tag attached to the article at every necessary points to unitarily manage the flow of the article.
Further, it is considered that a tag is attached to an article in the course of the production thereof to use it for production management. In this system, indication of information as to the article, which can be visually confirmed by a field worker or supervisor, becomes indispensable in order to cope with an unexpected situation due to breakage of the tag attached to the article, communication trouble or the like.
In reply to such problems, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-368894 discloses a non-contact recording medium provided with a visible information-recording area composed of a rewritable thermoplastic material on the surface of the recording medium having a non-contact recording means built-in. In this recording medium, a recording area, on which visible information can be thermally and rewritably recorded, is formed on the surface of the non-contact recording medium having the non-contact recording means built-in.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-104189 discloses an information recording medium containing an antenna and a circuit (semiconductor part) for storing ID information and sending the ID information to the outside by transmitting and receiving communication with the outside, in which a printable and erasable printing medium is provided on the surface thereof, and information related to the ID information has been printed on the printing medium.
However, the conventional non-contact information recording media described above are formed of a rigid body or a material relatively poor in flexibility for the purpose of protecting electronic parts such as an information storage element, a non-contact transmitting and recieving part and an antenna part from being damaged by mechanical stress. An image-indicating part is provided on the surface of the medium of such a form.
The non-contact information recording medium of such a form is suitable for a person to carry it, but has involved a problem that when it is attached to an article and used as a price tag, a label, a production-process-managing tag or the like, various limitations are made on the attachment to the article due to its lack of flexibility.
In the information recording medium disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-104189, the electronic parts described above are formed on a paper-like base material, and the printing medium, on which a visible image can be recorded repeatedly, is laminated thereon. Therefore, this information recording medium has involved a problem that the electronic parts may be possibly damaged by mechanical stress though it is excellent in flexibility.
In reply to the above problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 11-91273 and 11-91274 provide non-contact information recording media excellent in protection of electronic parts against damage by mechanical stress and suitable for use in tag attached to articles for the purpose of conducting a prescribed processing for the articles. When recording by an ink-jet system is conducted thereon, however, they cause a problem that an electronic information-storing circuit part thereof undergoes a circuit trouble caused by the ink components and is corroded. This is considered to be attributed to the fact that part of water and a solvent contained in the ink components generally remain unfixed on a recorded area after the recording and migrate with time to penetrate into the electronic information-storing circuit part.